AOP part 9: Coloured Gels

When I saw Maja's heel-less boots the first thing that came to mind was Devil's hooves. I instantly wanted to put her in a hellish red environment.

So how do you fill a large area with colour without putting lights everywhere?

Well, this is where it all gets a bit sneaky. To the left if this image you can make out a lighting stand. On it is a strobe covered by a blue gel.

The trick is to adjust the camera white balance for the blue light so it returns to something close to "normal" This gives normal skin tones where lit, but red shadows and a red environment.

Maja is illuminated by the blue strobe, but the rest of the room is only lit by the natural light coming from the windows down the right hand side. Flash power and camera settings are adjusted to give an exposure balance between the two.

All this done with just one strobe light and one gel.

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This is an excerpt from "Anatomy of a Photoshoot" which gives a complete breakdown of two days shooting with a full in-depth step by step review of everything that I do.